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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28744116">The First Day</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AyePatch/pseuds/AyePatch'>AyePatch</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>AyePatch's Bumbleby Fics [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Compliant, F/F, Fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 14:00:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,489</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28744116</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AyePatch/pseuds/AyePatch</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Shortly after partnering in the Emerald Forest, Blake and Yang take some time to get to know each other.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>AyePatch's Bumbleby Fics [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2107353</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>65</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The First Day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Takes place during Volume 1, between Chapters 6 and 7</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>    "So… tell me a bit about yourself?"</p><p>    Green leaves fluttered around Yang Xiao Long and her new partner, Blake, as they walked through the Emerald Forest in the general direction of the temple ruins. In the far-off distance, they could hear the sounds of gunfire mingling with those of birds and other wildlife, occasionally punctuated by the roaring and shrieking of grimm. A light breeze blew through, gently ruffling the two girls' hair.</p><p>    "What's there to tell?" Blake replied, tone neutral. She didn't seem like a very talkative person in Yang's limited experience with her, but she seemed nice enough. A bit cynical, but nice. "I grew up outside the kingdoms, had to learn to fight, came to Beacon to learn to do it better."</p><p>    "You must have some pretty interesting stories if you grew up outside the kingdoms," Yang suggested, stepping over an exposed root.</p><p>    "I'm not a very good storyteller," Blake replied simply.</p><p>    "You seem to like stories, though. What kind of books do you like?"</p><p>    Blake's shoulders tensed a little, and when she spoke, her tone was just a bit colder than before. "You didn't seem very interested in 'my kind of books' last night."</p><p>    Yang gave an exasperated sigh. "Yeah, well, you're not giving me much to work with here."</p><p>    "Maybe I'm just not in a particularly chatty mood right now," Blake replied sharply.</p><p>    "Oh. Right," Yang said, backing off quickly. "That makes sense. I'm sorry."</p><p>    They walked in silence for a few minutes before Blake spoke up. "I'm sorry," she said, sounding a fair bit more guilty than Yang would have expected. "It's just… growing up was… pretty stressful for me. I… kind of also came to Beacon to get away from that."</p><p>    Yang bit back a joke about how being catapulted off of a cliff into a grimm-infested forest as part of their <em> orientation </em> could possibly be considered a <em> break </em> from stress. Blake seemed like someone who knew what she was talking about. If she thought that life as a Huntress-in-training would be less stressful than… whatever her life was like before, then she was probably <em> right</em>. And if that was the case… Yang couldn't blame her for wanting to forget about it.</p><p>    "You don't need to apologize," Yang said gently. "I shouldn't have pressed." For a moment, Blake seemed almost <em> surprised </em>by that response, but it was gone so quickly that Yang might have imagined it. "So… wanna gossip about the people we've met so far?"</p><p>    Blake rolled her eyes, but a smile pulled at her lips. "Right, I should have <em> known </em>you'd like to gossip," she teased.</p><p>    "Ooh, feisty!" Yang said with a grin. "But you of all people should know not to judge books by their covers, right?"</p><p>    Blake stopped walking and folded her arms, cocking a hip in a way that Yang couldn't help but realize was <em> very </em> attractive. Not that it attracted <em> her </em> specifically, of course. She merely recognized an attractive girl when she saw one. Being one herself and all. Nothing more than that. Obviously. </p><p>    "Riiight," Blake drawled. <em> Fuck, that's attractive too. </em> "You <em> say </em> that, but then you want me to <em> gossip</em>?"</p><p>    Yang grinned and nodded eagerly.</p><p>    Blake rolled her eyes again and started walking. "That girl your sister was talking to. Do you know who she is?"</p><p>    Yang pretended to think for a moment, falling in next to her again. "Hmmm… some bratty, entitled jerk who thinks she's better than everyone else?"</p><p>    Blake snorted. "Well, you're not <em> wrong</em>," she admitted. "That was Weiss Schnee."</p><p>    Yang froze in her tracks. "Wait… 'Schnee' as in, the 'drives local small-time dust shops out of business' Schnees? The 'notorious for horrifically mistreating the Faunus members of their workforce' Schnees?! <em> Those </em>Schnees?!"</p><p>    "The very same," Blake confirmed, and Yang almost got the feeling that she'd just passed some sort of test.</p><p>    Yang groaned. "Oh my <em> gods</em>, if Ruby winds up partnered to her, <em> please </em>just shoot me."</p><p>    "Aww, but then <em> I'd </em>need a new partner," Blake said lightly.</p><p>    "I suppose that's true," Yang replied with a grin. "We <em> are </em>stuck together now, aren't we."</p><p>    "So it seems." Blake agreed, then paused. "What do you think of Ozpin's method for selecting partners?"</p><p>    Yang thought for a bit. "I think it's actually pretty clever. The way he worded it made it seem like we had no choice in the matter, but it really only <em> seemed </em> that way. In reality, we get to choose where we land, <em> when </em>we land, and he never said we had to make eye contact with the first person we run into. I suppose seeing who figures out the loopholes is probably one of his tests."</p><p>    Blake nodded approvingly. "And, it forces us to be prepared to learn to work together with people we may not like or agree with. Out in the field, we won't always get to pick our partners. Sometimes, we're gonna get stuck on a mission with someone we don't like, and we'll just have to learn to get along for a bit."</p><p>    Yang nodded in agreement, then leaned close and mimed poking Blake with her elbow. "Well, so far I'd say I'm pretty happy with who I'm stuck with," she said with a wink, before immediately tripping over an exposed root and landing on her face.</p><p>    Blake laughed and offered a hand to pull Yang up. "You okay?"</p><p>    "Yeah, yeah," Yang dismissed, making a show of dusting herself off. "Just… already falling for you, I guess," she joked.</p><p>    Blake rolled her eyes. "Before you found me, did you have anyone in mind? That you wanted to try partnering up with?"</p><p>    Yang shrugged. "My Signal friends," she replied. "Although it's an odd-numbered group, so somebody would have to be left out." She felt a pang in her heart, and muttered under her breath, "figures it'd be me…" She hadn't intended for Blake to hear, but the quick glance the ravenette gave her made her wonder. Though if Blake <em> had </em>heard, she said nothing. "Aside from them… honestly? You were on my short list."</p><p>    Blake cocked her head curiously. "Me?"</p><p>    "Well, yeah. I don't know that many people here, but you got along with Ruby and that makes you A-okay in my book."</p><p>    "Was Ruby on your list?" Blake asked.</p><p>    "I mean, I wouldn't have <em> minded </em>being partnered with her, but I feel like it might have discouraged her from branching out and making her own friends."</p><p>    "You two are close?"</p><p>    Yang nodded. "We spent pretty much every moment together growing up. I was so proud when I heard she'd be going to Beacon with me. She worked really hard for this. I don't care what any of the other students say. She earned this."</p><p>    They walked in silence for a moment before Blake spoke up. "She was actually on my short list of people I wanted to team up with," she admitted.</p><p>    Yang chuckled. "I guess she made an impression, huh?"</p><p>    Blake smirked. "You <em> both </em>did."</p><p>    "Uh-oh," Yang joked. "What kind of impression did <em> I </em>make?"</p><p>    "Loud, impulsive, and <em> awful </em>at flirting," Blake deadpanned. "But cute."</p><p>    "Oh," Yang said dumbly, feeling her face heat up for reasons that eluded her.</p><p>    "You were my first choice," Blake finished with a teasing smirk.</p><p>    "I, uhh…" Yang shook her head, trying to clear out the dial-up tone that was filling her currently hopelessly empty thoughts. She didn't even realize that she'd completely accepted Blake's statement that she'd been flirting, though it certainly hadn't been her intention at the time. At least, not consciously. "Wait, how does <em> that </em>add up?"</p><p>    "I figured that, if you were loud, your fighting style probably would be too," Blake explained. "And loud fighting styles compliment my own well. You hit hard, I hit often. Plus, I tend to overthink things, so you being impulsive could help balance that out. And aside from that…" her expression softened a little. "It was clear you care about Ruby a lot. You encouraged her to push herself. Stepped in to help her when you realized she was struggling. Even if you didn't do any better," she added with a chuckle. "And you were so proud of her afterwards. I could see it in your face. I wanted a partner who would work well with me on the battlefield, of course. But I also wanted somebody who I could grow to trust <em> off </em>of it as well. You seemed like the best fit for both of those, honestly."</p><p>    Yang wasn't entirely sure why those words of praise made her blush so brightly, but they certainly did. "So, uh, did you like, choose me or something?" She asked, suddenly feeling almost shy.</p><p>    Blake shook her head. "Nah, just got lucky," she replied, not bothering to make eye contact.</p><p>    "I guess we both did," Yang said with a smile.</p><p>    Something unreadable flashed across Blake's face, but it was gone before Yang could say what it was. </p><p>    "I really hope so."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Please feel free to let me know what you think in the comments! Tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, and what you want to see! Your feedback is a big part of what keeps me motivated!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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